The Atlanta Braves are the only publicly traded American team in Major League Baseball, but one minority shareholder is pushing for a sale that could change that.
In a Sept. 14 letter to the board of Atlanta Braves Holdings Inc., shareholder Breach Inlet Capital Management said “timing is optimal” to sell the holding company, citing recent multibillion-dollar sales of other sports teams, among other reasons. The firm pointed to the $12.5 billion sale of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team as one example.
Breach also highlighted a recent article in The Wall Street Journal that covered investors’ search for “AI-proof assets,” including sports teams and casinos. The newspaper’s coverage, Breach wrote, showed “investor appetite for defensible business models in an AI world, such as sports franchises.”
Breach went on to say that the board of the Braves’ holding company “should capitalize on the current backdrop and not assume valuations for sports teams will keep climbing at these rapid rates into perpetuity.”
The letter also maintained that new U.S. tax code could “disadvantage the Braves relative to privately-owned MLB teams.” Existing tax code limits public companies to a $1 million compensation deduction per taxable year for their CEO, CFO and the next three highest-paid officers, the letter noted. Starting in 2027, however, this is set to expand to cover five additional highly paid employees.
That could change the Braves’ tax position, according to the letter.
“The Braves’ top five players are estimated to be paid ~$110mm next year,” Breach’s letter said. “Thus, ~$105mm may soon be non-deductible for (Atlanta Braves Holdings) leading to an incremental annual tax liability of over $20mm. Every other MLB team, except the Toronto Blue Jays, is private and will not be subject to this tax. Therefore, the Braves will have less cash to spend on improving their roster putting the Braves at a competitive disadvantage if (the holding company) remains public.”
According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Atlanta Braves Holdings CEO Terence McGuirk had a base salary of $1.126 million in 2025, while executive VP and CFO Jill Robinson had a base salary of $825,000. Both were entitled to additional bonuses that would take their total compensation much higher.
Breach added that the Braves’ holding company appears to be “materially undervalued compared to recent transactions.”
The potential for an MLB lockout at the end of the year is another reason Breach is pushing for a sale now.
“Many team owners want a salary cap like other leagues, while players appear adamantly opposed,” Breach noted. “The consensus view seems to be that this will lead to a lockout. That will be the case if history is a guide.”
The Braves’ holding company should “capitalize on the MLB’s current momentum ahead of a potential extended lockout,” the letter said.
The MLB and the Braves didn’t respond to requests for comment on the proposal on Wednesday.
Chris Colvin, founder and portfolio manager of Breach Inlet Capital Management, also didn’t respond to emailed questions on the proposal. But, speaking to The Athletic, Colvin said MLB’s upcoming national media contracts leave “a lot of value ot realize.”
“Why not at least explore and test the market to see what the value is?” Colvin told The Athletic. “Because at the end of the day, the board of a public company’s job is to effectively maximize shareholder value, right?”
